If This Isn't Love

by ShanicexLola Shanice Swint

  Karim wondered why he ever thought the streets were more important than a woman as perfect as Amiyah. She had every right to demand the happily ever after she wanted. For her, he would try harder. Karim planned to try harder to accomplish gifting her the world.

  “Pretty girl,” he spoke, barely above a whisper. At his attention, her orbs widened, exposing her gratitude to see him.

  “Hey.” She sat up on the couch. Before she could stand, Karim fell to his knees and laid his head in her lap. “What is it?” she whispered. As she massaged his head, she rubbed over his broad shoulders with her free hand. Loving him through their uncertainties felt better than not having him at all.

  “This love shit gotta nigga beat,” he grumbled. “But I—” Amiyah lifted his head from her lap to kiss him. She shushed him with a passionate kiss as her pussy pulsated for him.

  Karim missed her so much that he pulled her onto the carpet next to him. Supporting her head with a pillow from the couch, he laid her down and hovered over her. “I’m in love with you,” he continued. “I will never stop fighting for you, pretty girl. You hear me? You’re going to have to do a lot more than kick me out of the fucking house.”

  Amiyah moaned as he kissed her neck. Karim smiled at his jacket that swallowed her slender body. She was bare underneath it. Spreading her legs to rest between them, the warmth that radiated from her thighs teased him.

  “I’m sorry,” he breathed in her ear. It was an apology that didn’t come across genuine. One he aired in advance for what would come next.

  Karim released his dick and entered the pussy that was always wet for him. His touch made her body thrive with purpose. Karim pushed deeper inside of her with a mission to please. Cupping her breast to kiss her areola, he teased her nipple until she got tired of moaning through the pleasure and begged him to fuck her.

  Karim was sorry for a lot of things he’d put her through. But, fucking her passionately and making love to her until she lost her mind wasn’t one of them.

  Karim couldn’t lose the pussy that griped his dick this beautifully. Groaning in her ear, he confessed just that. When he was deep inside her, he ditched his pride to confess the concealed emotions he harbored. The love was evident in his desirous strokes. Squeezing her thighs tenderly, Amiyah fought back by roaming underneath his shirt to dig her nails into his back. Parting her thighs wider, she welcomed his thick inches to ravage her blissfully.

  “It hurts to miss you,” Karim admitted. He sighed while inside of her—amazed that her love could feel this extraordinary.

  “Karim.” She panted. Attempting to brace herself, she pushed his chest. No matter how much she aimed for mercy, Karim refused to oblige.

  Chuckling against her sweet lips, he kissed above her top lip, down to her chin, and then pulled out of her slowly. Standing over her, he stroked his hard dick with his jeans around his ankles and smirked.

  “Take your ass in the room. I want you on all fours.” He slapped her ass and gave her a boost in the direction of their bedroom.

  Amiyah squealed, giggling with anticipation until she felt the weight of his dick at her entrance. Positioning her near the edge of their large bed, he demanded the arch he loved.

  Slapping her ass until she got it right, Karim praised her perfect form. He kissed the ass cheeks he’d slapped to ease the pressure, then kissed her pussy from the back to have the candied taste of her on his tongue. No other woman could have him profoundly absorbed like Amiyah had him. She was the one.

  On his face, she quivered. Karim’s thick lips grazed her clit, then quaked her body when he circled his tongue around her sensual pearl. Underneath her, he groaned and muttered pieces of his affection. The vibration tingled her core.

  “Karim,” she whined. The moment she tried to stop, he slapped her ass as a fair warning. Karim was far from being fulfilled.

  After being punished for three weeks, he preferred she ride his face until she collapsed on top of him. Until she was utterly spent, he refused to let up.

  Impressed with the ways she rotated her hips, he buried his face further between her pussy lips. Karim licked every inch of her and cherished every caress to her smooth, brown skin. Pleasing her was as easy as loving her. He wished she knew that.

  “I’m—”

  Karim interrupted her from announcing her peak. Wrapping his arms around her hips, he held onto her tightly, accepting every drop he could savor.

  “I love you,” Amiyah moaned. She collapsed upon his face and assumed it was over, but Karim kept his arms around her waist, patiently waiting for the moment her pulsating clit calmed down, so he could feast again.

  Amiyah

  Awakening in the middle of the night was different tonight. For the first time in three weeks, the tranquility Amiyah felt at 3AM was dream-like and soothing. He’d put her to sleep with immense pleasure, then stuck around to hold her. Lying on his bare chest, she refrained from getting up to use the bathroom. Comfortability drenched her. She was secure with him in attendance, wholly completed in his arms.

  Reaching up to feel his face in the darkness, she rubbed over his thick beard and traced her fingertips over his lips. Sighing deeply, Amiyah returned her hand to his buff chest to rub over it.

  “I don’t read minds, pretty girl. You’re going to have to do better than that.”

  Relieved that he was awake, she smiled. “I want to know your vision, Karim,” she whispered. “What do you want out of our relationship?”

  “Just you,” he answered quickly. And vaguely. Amiyah contemplated her next question, then sat up next to him. “Don’t,” he muttered. He stopped Amiyah from overthinking his answer before she could ruin herself. “I’m not finished.”

  “OK,” she whispered. Surrounded by darkness, she managed to wrap her legs around him and hold onto his neck. Karim’s dick poked her stomach. The rises she got out of him were effortless.

  “I’m not willing to repeat a lot of the headass shit I’m about to say. You gotta keep up.”

  Amiyah giggled as he spoke against her neck. Securing her in his arms snuggly, Karim held onto her like he could lose her at any moment.

  “I know you’re a man, Karim. You’re the man! But you can tell me anything. I won’t hold it against you or use it to hurt you. After six years—”

  “I should know that already,” he finished her sentence. “I feel you.”

  “Then why aren’t we better than this? Why is it a struggle to pick your brain? At this stage in our relationship, why don’t we want the same things?” There were more questions she wanted to air, but her voice cracked. As she lost her composure, the room fell silent. She closed her eyes tightly to hold back tears.

  Karim flipped her onto her back to hover over her. He kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. “You really have to stop speaking for me.” Gently, he wrapped his hand around her neck, then rubbed over it with his thumb.

  “Is it not enough for me to fucking love you, pretty girl? Do you have to question my every move, thought and mistake?” He huffed. “I want everything with you. Amiyah, you are the woman I’m going to spend my life with. Losing you is the only thing I’m afraid of.”

  “Karim—”

  “I’m going to marry you,” he whispered in her ear. “Despite my fears, what I’ve experienced, and the bullshit I’m mixed in with every day, I will make you my wife. But you can’t rush me. And you can’t define our love with a ring, certificate or ceremony. I’ve been in love with you since the day I met you. Don’t insult how far we’ve come by forcing me to love you on your terms.” Karim meant every word he aggressively whispered. The gleam in his eyes that shone in the darkness confirmed the truth.

  Gasping when he pushed inside of her slowly, Amiyah’s response was stripped away with pure ecstasy. Resisting her was impossible. In her ear, he confided how much he missed her pussy lips being wrapped around his dick.

  “Now tell me your vision again.” He chuckled in her ear to mask his own moans. His sultry baritone in her
ear was the greatest tune she’d ever heard.

  Stuttering through moans, Amiyah tugged at her long braids, losing herself in his gratifying strokes.

  “I love you,” was the only part of her vision that she’d managed to utter. She rubbed his face in awe. Even in the dark, his jaw structure intrigued her. Surrounded by nightfall, the dark-brown eyes she admired populated in her head.

  He felt so good inside of her that she began to scream his favorite things. Assuring him that her pussy belonged to him, she promised Karim that no other man could ever compare. She promised that no one else would ever reap the benefits of the sex that only got juicy for him.

  Amiyah reminisced on the beginning of their relationship as the sun invaded their sheer curtains. In the beginning stages of their relationship, they made love all day.

  Each year, his quality time with her lessened without an explanation. Working alongside his brothers became top priority. Just as she was unwilling to compete with another woman, she refused to compete with the streets.

  She was shocked that he’d settled comfortably next to her. Covering herself, she sat up to stare into his relaxed face. “You’re not leaving?”

  “Not even if you wanted me to.”

  From afar, his phone rang in the corner he’d dropped his pants. Amiyah laid back and huffed. Assuming he would leave her, she rolled over onto her side, merely grateful for the exclusive time she received. Karim left the room to retrieve his phone like she knew he would. Returning empty handed, he laid behind her and pulled her close.

  “You’re not going to answer it?” she whispered. Amiyah had become jealous of his phone. Hardly missing a call, Karim usually answered, then rushed out of the door.

  “I’m here. Aren’t I?” Positioning herself to face him, she gazed in his genuine eyes and nodded. “Alright then.” He eyed her lips. They were reeling him in, urging him to smash his lips into hers. “Chill on me. I’m where I want to be.”

  A Saturday spent in bed with each other was long overdue. Karim proved just how much he missed her by taking his time to place soft kisses on her shoulder. Her skin was delicate—in need to be pampered and commended. Amiyah’s glistening bronze skin was alluring. His lips tickled her skin, causing her to giggle beneath him.

  Engulfed with a kiss to her bottom lip, Amiyah parted her lips to taste him. Their tongues danced together, and then fought over control. Karim’s large hands roamed between her thighs.

  Rubbing what he deemed a sweet treat, his touch made her moan in his mouth. Clamping her thighs together pissed him off. Karim warned her with a grumble, then pushed a finger inside to feel her. Amiyah’s warmth covered his finger and her walls tightened around it. He broke their kiss to taste her from his finger, then smirked—a clear indication that he needed to fully indulge.

  “Relax,” he mumbled in her ear, calming her tense body down. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  She was thirsty for him, and how could he blame her? Amiyah was on edge, worried that he would rush out to leave her at any moment. Karim made his intentions to stay blatant by disappearing underneath the comforter to taste her. Tasting her was pleasurable for him. The way she had been starving him was anything but fair.

  He gripped her thighs aggressively as he feasted. Amiyah was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted. Moaning on the verge of tears, she arched her back with her mouth wide open, gasping for air. Amiyah moaned Karim’s name with adoration lacing her soft tone. He was the greatest ardency she'd ever known.

  Karim

  With water trickling down his chest, Karim scoffed when he got out of the shower and powered on his phone to a text message from Rashad. Rashad was demanding for Karim to meet up with him immediately. He could sense his brother’s hostility from the exclamation marks in the text. Karim rubbed through his beard and cursed under his breath. He really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Rashad’s attitude and dire need to be in control today. However, duty called. He’d put everything off to spend a day with Amiyah. It was only right to get back to business.

  Karim towered over Amiyah in only a towel. The shape of her pouty lips never got old. One by one, he’d been attentive to them all night. Aside from the lips on her beautiful face, he was especially attentive to the lips between her thighs. As he contemplated how much time he had to spare, he licked his lips and decided on a gentle kiss to her forehead. He hated to leave her, but he turned away from her to grab a hoodie, jeans, and throw on a pair of sneakers anyway. The quicker he left was the faster he could make it back to her.

  Because it was Sunday, he knew exactly where to find Rashad.

  Karim parked alongside the curb in front of his brother’s home. He got out and entered his yard through the side-gate, heading straight for the back yard.

  “Nigga’s don’t know how to knock or ring a doorbell no more?” Rashad sneered. He looked up from the steaks he was grilling with an attitude. Their eye contact was intense until giggling from the sidelines nagged at their attention.

  Rashad’s girl was laid by the pool. She side-eyed Karim through her designer shades and smiled.

  “Hey, Karim.” She twirled her fingers to wave at him and winked. She chewed the gum in her mouth obnoxiously, occasionally wrapping it around her index finger.

  Karim simply nodded in her direction. He often wondered what Rashad saw in her. She flirted with every man she encountered. She seemingly lived for attention from a man.

  “If I’d planned to visit on my own, I would’ve knocked. Since you summoned me over here, what’s up?”

  “What’s up?” Rashad mocked Karim as he poked through the meat on the grill with a fork. “Where were your antennas yesterday?”

  “Signaling Amiyah,” Karim quipped and grabbed a beer from the cooler before taking a seat on top of it. “Why? What happened?”

  “Nothing. Nothing happened because you and Khalil were missing all day.” Rashad shook his head. Though he found nothing amusing about their negligence to be on call for business, he chuckled to himself. “I expect that shit from Khalil. He’s still young. But you! Nah. You rather be laid up with a bitch than make money.”

  Karim took a final sip from his beer, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before standing. “We make money in our sleep. Have you checked the stocks we’ve invested in lately? We ain’t hurting for shit,” he reminded him.

  Hearing Amiyah be disrespected took him from 0-100. She wasn’t just some bitch to him. She was his world. Money couldn’t compensate for Amiyah. She deserved to come before anything else. She’d held it down for six years.

  After the day they spent together, he decided it was time to stop running when his older brother called—time to stop participating in dangerous things that could hurt her worse than her not receiving his time. Karim refused to put her through an unnecessary loss.

  “Alright, man. I’m out.” Karim threw his hand up to signal that he was leaving. Rashad had become like a second father to him when their mother put their father out. His brewing anger was his cue to leave before he disrespected him and regretted it later on.

  Only four years older than Karim, Rashad had made Karim his right-hand man. He'd been bossing him around since they were teenagers.

  “I’m not done talking!” he shouted behind Karim, stopping him in his tracks.

  “I don’t give a fuck.” Karim snapped around to face him. “You don’t run me, bro. This shit is getting really old. You know why you can’t stand dad? Because you’re just like him. Selfish and boastful with no power. Without me and Khalil, you ain’t shit. Yesterday should’ve showed you that.”

  Rashad dropped the utensils in his hand to pull up his loose-fitting shorts. Lifting his shirt over his head, he threw it across the yard. He was prepared to brawl over his brother’s accusation. Being compared to his father was the ultimate disrespect.

  “Run that by me again,” he said, approaching Karim.

  “Shad,” his girl called out to him, but remained in her seat to stay out of the cros
s-fire. She looked scared of his next move, but Karim was ready for it.

  “Which part do you need me to repeat?” Karim shrugged, chuckling thereafter. His head was high in the air. Karim’s posture reeked confidence as Rashad moved toward him with vengeance.

  He’d feared Rashad majority of his life. Rashad’s domineering attitude used to shut his brothers' thoughts down, convincing them to listen and oblige to his every idea and request. Those days were long over. His younger brothers had begun to find their own way in life.

  “Run all that shit back if you’re bold.” Rashad shoved Karim’s shoulder, forcing him back a few feet. Charging forward, Karim’s fist connected with his jaw and dropped Rashad to his knees. “I said you don’t fucking run me!” he repeated with more power in his tone this time around.

  “Rashad!” his girl squealed. She hesitated to move closer. Witnessing two muscular men who were over six-feet going at it wasn’t a safe fight to walk up on.

  Jumping up and down at a distance, she screamed for them to stop. Her screams went unheard when Rashad jumped to his feet to take his brother down to the hard pavement in front of the back door. Their fists pummeled into each other in turns. They struck each other repeatedly with grunts and threats to kill one another.

  Karim reached for his protection when he was grabbed and restrained. Khalil’s familiar voice stopped him from pulling it out of his pants.

  “It’s just me, Rim. Chill!” Khalil looked from Karim to Rashad who was standing from the ground holding his nose. Angry that Karim had gotten the best of him, Rashad shouted for him to leave.

  “Now,” he reiterated. “See that nigga out, Khalil.”

  Karim laughed and stormed out with blurred vision. He was so mad that he spat in Rashad’s yard and walked to his car clenching his fists. He shrugged Khalil off of him as Khalil tried to follow closely behind. Karim was close to striking anything in his path and he didn’t want it to be his innocent, little brother.